Great War book 1:the return of hope
by Doomblade
Summary: A re-upload of my story. With the world sent into a state of chaos, and the village and people he loves in danger, a changed Naruto will face incredible struggle. Friends becoming enemies, enemies becoming friends, and death surround our favorite hero
1. Chapter 1

**Okay...so, long time no write huh? I really must apologize for being gone as long as i have. So, i bet your wondering why im writing a Naruto story instead of continuing with the resident evil series i was writing. Long story short? My harddrive got fried, so i lost the chapters i had typed up. So, until i can get those re-tryped. i figured id make this story. I have high hopes for this series. Enjoy.**

**2 years after Naruto left to train (A/N-Sasuke never left in this series. I always hated that decision.)**

It is a time of great strife in the shinobi world. The Akatsuki organization is on the rise, growing quicker and more out of control than Jiraiya had initialy predicted. Two months after Naruto uzumaki left to get stronger, the group made their first big play, invading and conquering the sound village, killing Kabuto and sealing Orochimaru away. Now, they had a formal army, not just a network of spies.

"If you fall in line, you shall not perish." was the motto they adopted. Since that day, it had been constant warfare. The waterfall, grass, and even the rain villages fell by the end of the first year. The bigger nations, sensing the very real danger of total collapse of order, formed the grand alliance. Under this unity, the Akatsuki's army entered into a bloody stalemate with them. Then, for the next year after that, the Akatsuki initiated a backup plan-the statue used to collect jinchuriki. The danger level increased tenfold now, and the leaf village is feeling the loss of Naruto's strength in the war effort, and now the Akatsuki were hunting him.

Sasuke rolled out of his bed, feeling his muscles ache from months of strain. Sliding into his armor, tying his headband, he made his way to the bathroom, splashing a bit of cold water on his face. His face didn't surprise him that much-it was sunken in, with the food crisis in the village lately, he hadn't been eating much. He was pale, and had dark rings under his eyes. He sighed heavily and left his home.

The streets of the hidden leaf were deadly quiet. Sasuke had been told late last night a group of Akatsuki sympathizers were planning an assault on the leafs farms that sat just outside the walls. The food crisis was caused by attacks like this, and if those last couple of farms went, the village would probably collapse completely. The public tired of the war as it was, without throwing this onto the pile.

Sasuke picked up the radio earpiece and placed it into his ear. "This is captain Sasuke uchiha of team 7, requesting orders." he said. The radio crackled loudly, hurting his eardrums, but the lousy signal probably caused it. Shizune's voice finally broke through it.

"Roger that, Sasuke. Kakashi is waiting at the field with Gai's team. Head there right away and assist in repeling the attack." she said.

"Affirmitive. Hey, where are all the citizens?" he asked. Shizune took a minute before responding, probably ordering other aquads.

"Due to the close proximity of the fighting, they've been moved to the shelters. I have to go now, okay? Shizune out." she said, closing the connection. Sasuke ran as fast as his legs could move, which wasn't much. Glancing upwards, he noticed the sky was darkening considerably, perhaps meaning rain. Sasuke couldn't help but think this was fitting.

"I guess the weather agrees with me. A storm is coming, and we need to be ready when it does." he said. He was past the gate now, running down the dirt path that would lead him to the farm. He crossed the final hill, and he was there. Lee greeted him at the gate.

"Hello, Sasuke! Glad you and Kakashi are here to assist our team!" Lee exclaimed. Sasuke smirked, amused at Lee's demeanor towward this. "I must admit, Neji believes that this fight will be a stuggle. I should say not!" he went on, making Sasuke roll his eyes. Amusing or not, Lee should know that if Neji said something, typically, it came to pass, so he shouldn't need to question it.

When they entered the house, Kakashi was sat with Gai at a table, talking with the owner, discusing the details of their plan. "Thank you for joining us Sasuke." Kakashi said, maybe a little colder than he should have, but it didn't bother Sasuke much-war does that.

"Forgive me for being late. So, where are Neji and Tenten?" Sasuke asked. Gai cleared his throat, drawing Sasuke's eyes to him.

"I sent them to patrol the outer portions of the perimeter. We can't have the enemy getting the jump on us. Now, you were making a point Kakashi?" Gai said, indicating the masked man. Kakashi resumed pointing to a map of the entire area.

"With the river to the west of us, and this being the wet season, we can assume they won't come from that direction. To the south we have mountains, and east, the village. So, the north is the only way they can come from and mantain a attack. When Neji and Tenten get back, we'll see if im right. Until then, we need to barricade the cellar for Mr Kanemotos family to take cover in. None of his family are shinobi, so we need to ensure their safety. Lee, you and Sasuke grab some tools and start." he said. Both bowed and went to it.

"Kakashi...who do you think these so called 'Akatsuki sympathizers' are?" Kanemoto said. Kakashi sighed heavily.

"Were unsure ourselves. Intellegence has been slim since the Yamanaka clan went to the frontlines. All we know is, their a group of people who don't belong to the Akatsuki army directly, but support their goals. So, they have begun to interfere with the alliance behind the lines, making our lives harder with every attack. Their the reason your farm has had to work 5 times harder. Their trying to starve out our people, to make us withdraw our support. We can't let them destroy this place. It's the only one left now." he said.

"Well, you folks do waht you need to do. My family sure appreciates your help. I'll head down to the cellar and see how their doing. Plus, i need to tell them that Lee and that Sasuke boy are going to making a whole bunch of noise here shortly." he smiled, heading downstairs. Gai chuckled, surprised at how lighthearted the man seemed to be in the face of possible destruction of his home.

**Hospital**

Sakura sat at the front desk of the hospital, her eyes heavy, having not slept for over 28 hours at least. The constant arrivals of injuries from constant sympathizers were begining to take its toll. Most of their best healers were with the army where they were needed most, so they were terribly understaffed. To be honest, it depressed her how badly the village was decaying the longer this conflict went on. 40 percent of the stores were closed, their owners killed or moved to the countryside to be safer, people were starving in the streets, and disease was running rampant, straining the hospital further. She hoped things got better soon. They couldn't get much worse.

Her pager pinged, telling her another patient was in need of her help. "Okay, okay, im coming." she grumbled. She hurried down hall, her footsteps clicking on the cold tiles of the hospitals floors. The 'clean' smell Naruto always complained about was absent, replaced by a musty, almost rotten smell. The cleaning staff hadn't felt the need to come in since the attacks had really gotten worse. Naruto. As soon as the name entered her mind, she felt a wave of sadness wash over her, and she regreted thinking of him. Naruto and Jiraiyas current status were unknown. Some thought they were caught, others believed they were dead. She hoped neither was true.

"Someone please help us!" a womans voice rang through the empty halls, jolting Sakura from her thoughts. She hurried through the door, seeing an all-too-familiar sight. A boy, no more than 7 or 8 was coughing violently, blood lining the mucus coming up through his lungs. "He started to get worse. Please, can't you do anything?" the mother begged her. Sakura shook her head.

"Our antibiotics are limited. I can't do anything without Doctor Hiashi approving it." she said, using her glowing hands to pinpoint the source. It appeared to be inflamed blood vessels in the lungs. The first stages of stage two infection of the new disease they found. Little was known, except it started cropping up shortly following the begining of the sympathizers attacks. Probably a deliberate attack.

"I heard my name. What's the problem Sakura?" Hiashi Takada was the head of the hospital, and, while Tsunade was at the Kage summit, and Shizune was running dispatch, was the head medic in charge. He had thinning brown hair, and his face showed visible aging far beyond his years. The stress of everything was getting to him. It was to all of them. "The new virus again?" he asked.

"Yeah. He's entering stage two from what i can tell. He won't last long at his age without the anti-inflammatory meds." she said. Hiashi sighed heavily, reading the victims charts. "We must be able to spare at least a few pills. Were supposed to be helping these people."

"No, i know, okay? It's just that..." he stumbled over saying his next sentence, perhaps guilt of it weighing on him.

"What? New's from the frontline not good?" she asked, hoping not to hear that one of her friends were hurt or dead.

"Something like that. As you know, we've had to ship most of our supplies to the war effort. Well, due to some major offensives recently, they've doubled the amount of medicine they need. We have next to nothing left right now." he said, staring at the floor.

Sakura cast a guilty look over her shoulder. "So, we can't do anything at all for him?" she asked softly.

"Except maybe finding him some food? No. Im afraid, if he can't hang on until we get more medicine, he is going to die." Hiashi said, forgeting to lower his voice, so the mother heard him. She began to cry, clinging to her son's hand. Sakura couldn't look at her.

"When will it end?" She whispered. A simple question that was met with a simple answer.

"When the leader of the Akatsuki is dead and buried. Nothing short of that." Hiashi said, leaving the room. Sakura sighed and followed.

"I wish you were here Naruto. You'd know what to say right about now." she said, staring at the celing tiles as the woman continued to cry. She felt a cold streak leave the corner of her right eye as she listened. Almost as if the woman expressed what she was keeping bottoled up inside her from all this time.

**Kanemoto farm**

"We need help!" Nejis voice piereced the eerie calm that had settled over the farm. Sasuke and Lee ran up to Neji, who was carrying a wounded Tenten over his shoulder. Blood dripped from her arm, and it was embedded with shrapnel. "Please help her." Neji said.

"What the hell happened, Neji?" Sasuke asked, taking Tentens other arm over his shoulder. Neji, out of breath, tried to form the words.

"We...Were attacked on out way back. A group of maybe 15 people. They dropped some paper bombs, and I tried to block it with my 8 palms...but Tenten was hit, an i-" he stopped, having to stop a sob from leaving his chest. "This is my fault." he said.

"Stop it, Neji. Tenten will be fine." Lee said, hsi cheerful tone completely absent for now. Sasuke cast a nervous eye to the forest.

"How did you guys get away?" Sasuke asked. Neji shifted Tentens weight, her blood staining the white cloth of his uniform.

"I dropped a flash bomb. They'll be right behind us, so let's get her inside, otherwise, we'll be caught off guard big time." he said.

Gai rushed outside, taking Tenten from them and quickly disappearing with her inside. Kaskashi placed a hand on Neji's arm. "You did fine, Neji. Let's go, because i think we have company." he said pointing to the trees, which began to rustle. "This could be bad." Kakashi said as the 15 attackers appeared before them. They were all dressed the same-crudely spray-painted Akatsuki robes and animal masks.

"Well, it seems like our wounded pups went home to their dad." the leader said, drawing a katana from his sheath. "I guess, we'll just have to end you, then burn this place to the ground." he said. The whole group laughed. Lee drew a kunai, taking a stance.

"Hey, boss. Don't kill that brown-headed girl right away. I think we could get some 'use' out of her first." one of them said. Neji growled under his breath, and also readied himself. A chill ran through the air as a spike in chakra was felt. Sasuke was heard grinding his teeth.

"I have to warn you guys..." Sasuke growled under his breath. The whole group, including Neji and the others looked at him. His hand glowed with the chidori blade. "Im in a REAL bad mood at this particular moment." he said, and with one fluid motion sliced the thug that had made the joke about Tenten in the chest. He fell, not a sound, dead before his body hit the dirt with a mild thump sound. Then, it all went quick. The group of sympathizers lunged at Sasuke, but ran into the others. The sounds of the battle began to echo through the trees.

**Deeper in the forest**

A younger ninja, a mask hiding his face, dressed in black pants with dark red shirt and grey vest, his blond hair tied in a ponytail stopped when the echos of the battle reached his enhanced hearing. "Guess im closer to the village than i thought." he muttered, rushingas fast as possible to the fight. "Thought i could find at least two moments of peace." he complained, hoping through the trees.

**Like i said, this is the start of my Naruto series. I've wanted to write this for a while, so, while your waiting for me to resume my resident evil series, i do hope you'll enjoy this. Leave a review if you like it guys. It helps me out more than you might know, and lets me know what im doing right or wrong. Thank you for reading,**

**Much love,**

**Doomblade**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, as promised, here is the next chapter. I gotta say, writing about anime again feels awesome. So, please enjoy this.**

"Any bright ideas, Sasuke?" Lee said as they stood back to back, surrounded by their enemies. Sasuke saw no other way out of it but to fight. Kakashi had engaged the leader, and both had vanished into the forest, while Neji lay at their feet, unconcious.

"Not really. Kakashi running off like that...and he says I have a hot head." he grumbled. One of the...shinobi he guessed he had to call them, tried to lunge at them, but back away when Sasuke made the sign of the tiger. "One more step and your all barbacued. Got that!"

"Tough talk. You can't get all of us. What are you guys waiting for? The boss want's this place gone before he gets back from killing their sensei." one of them said. They all moved in, reminded of this now, but Sasuke smirked, and ducked out of the way.

"Leaf hurricane!" Lee yelled, spinning on the spot, his heel connecting with all of them. Sasuke jumped to the side, placing Neji in a safe spot. "Sasuke, behind you!" Lee called. Sasuke turned and managed to get his hand up to block a kick from one of them. He slid in the dirt from the force, but rather that had happened then have that hit his chest. Sasuke drew his kunai and jumped in the air, disappearing.

"What the hell-?" the man said, but his breath was halted when Sasuke buried the knife into his neck, dropping him.

"I warned you." Sasuke said simply, sensing somthing above him. He moved out of the way just in time, avoiding the axe of the big brute of the gang. Looking behind him, he saw Lee rushing towards him, giving the signal. "Okay, if you think we can get him up!"

Lee appeared at the big mans feet, kicking him in the chin, attempting to get him up. The man smirked and grabbed Lee by the throat.

"Let him go, you overgrown gorrilia!" Sasuke said, kicking him sharply in the arm. He imediately regretted that, as the man grabbed him too. He felt the thick hand crushing his windpipe, all the strength leaving his already-weak muscles.

"Dynamic entry!" a familiar voice cried. Gai's foot buried itself into the brutes face, and the momentum at least pushed him back, and made him drop Sasuke and Lee. Sasuke coughed violently, thankful for the pressure to be gone off his throat.

"I'm gonna snap you like a twig!" the bruteish man barked at him. Gai smilled in confidence.

"Sasuke. You and Lee handle those others. This one is all mine." he said. Sasuke almost asked what others before he heard it. The men Lee had stunned were getting up. Even with that, they were still easily outnumbered. Sasuke looked from them to Gai.

"Are you crazy? You can't take that one on by yourself, he'll wipe you off the face of the earth!" he said. Gai laughed, a bitter chuckle.

"Then you can rest assured i'll at least take him with me before i go. You and Lee need to keep those others off my case." he said as the two of them launched at each other. Lee nodded to Sasuke and the two of them ran at the remanider of the group.

**Deeper in the forest.**

"Look at the mighty copy ninja now. Not so high and mighty without your chakra, are you?" the leader mocked. Kakashi lifted his head weakly, his sharingan eye cloudy, blood from his head covered the normal one. The leaders maske had been shattered in the confrontation so that he could see his face. A pair of cold, grey eyes with brown hair in a mohawk.

"If your going to finish me, you might as well do it..." he muttered. He was too weak to move, not to hear. He always hated braggers. That was one thing he tried to teach Naruto-less bravado, more action. Funny how enemies needed the same lesson.

"As you wish. I'm sure, with both yours, and your hyuga friends chakra increasing my own, i'll be able to battle for way longer now." he said. Kakashi, his back against the tree, his body limp, stared up as he raised his sword high above his head. "Goodbye Kakashi Hatake" he said. Kakashi closed his eyes and readied himself, images of his students and his old team flashing before him.

The sword never swung down. Kakashi looked up and saw the leader's eyes focused on the blade around his neck. The masked ninja stood behind him. "Drop it." he commanded in a stern voice. The leader did so, and in the next instant was knocked out from an elbow to the back of the skull. The ninja laughed softly. "You need to be more careful." he said quickly, placing his hand on Kakashis chest.

"What are you-" he started but stopped when he felt a surge of chakra entering his body, feeling the stiffness leave with every passing second. "What did you do to me?" he asked, standing and replacing the headband over his sharingan.

"A new trick i picked up. I put your chakra level back to at least walking level. I wouldn't try battling anymore for a while." he said.

Before anymore words could be spoken, a loud thundering sound was heard, and a huge dust cloud entered the sky. Kakashi exchanged a look with the masked man and they silently resolved to discuss this later. They took off toward the direction of it.

**Farm**

Sasuke shook Lee, trying to ensure his friend was still alive. Lee had performed the lotus on the last of the gang, eliminating the last of the resistance, other than the big one, but he and Gai had left Sasuke's line of sight since the fighting got worse, but they were nearby., judging by the faint sounds of punches being thrown. "Lee, are you alright?" he asked. Lee had landed awkwardly when it hit, so he wasn't moving much. "Lee?" he asked again. Lee groaned loudly and tried to stand up, despite Sasuke's objections.

"I-I am fine. We must go see if Gai sensei is-" he was cut off when his legs gave out and was forced back onto his knees. Sasuke shook his head and helped him into a sitting position. "what are you doing Sasuke?" he asked.

"After that move, your not any good to me. Stay here." he said, heading to where he last heard the fighting. His vizion was hazy, and he felt himself off balance. "Ugh. Im not in the best shape either. Got to make this quick." he said, picking up speed. As he approached the treeline, he felt something heavy slam into him, sending him reeling. looking up, he saw it was a beaten and bloody Gai.

"Sasuke, im sorry. He took everything i had. Something isn't right with this one...he's different." he said, before he passed out.

The hulking man stepped into the clearing, his robe and mask gone, revealing a heavily scarred face, one scar closing his left eye. He was bald as well, revealing other scars. "Well, so your all that's left for me huh? I gotta say, you and your buddies took out everyone but me and the boss it would seem. Still, your screwed pal." he laughed, cracking his knuckles. Thunder cracked and rain began to fall.

Sasuke tried to defend himself, but it was too quick. The man buried his rock-hard fist into Sasukes abdomen, sending him flying. Before Sasuke could recover, he appeared behind him and slammed Sasuke into his knee back-first. Sasuke knew his scream echoed, but who would help him? Kakashi was god-knows where, and the rest of his team was out of it. He felt more pressure on his back now.

"Beg for mercy, and i'll let you go. We only need to destroy the farm." he said in his gruff voice.

"How about you go burn in hell?" Sasuke said, causing more pressure to be applied, to the point he felt his bones bending further.

"Wrong answer kid. Now, I'll kill you, and be done with this." he said, pulling his heavy axe back out and ran it along Sasukes face. "Feel how sharp it is? I'm going to gut you like a fish kid. And laugh while i do it." he said rasing the blade of it over Sasukes stomach.

A shurkien was thrown into the man's palm as he prepared to strike. making him drop it. Sasuke was also let go , relieving the pressure, but Sasuke was paralyzed from the extreme pain he was still in. "What the hell?" he said, looking toward the trees.

"Whoever did that is finished!" the brute said ripping the shuriken out of his palm and picking his axe back up. A flash of movement was seen, and the masked ninja was behind him. "Who are you?" the man said.

"Doesn't matter does it? Your dead for what you've done." he said. The man swung at him, but he vanished again. The masked ninja drew his own sword and cut the mans hand off. Before he could even scream in pain however, the ninja cut his throat evenly. The big brute began to choke on his own blood and he could do nothing before he fell face-first into the dirt, staining the brown red.

Kakashi helped Sasuke back to his feet and draped his arm over his left shoulder. "Thanks, whoever you are." Sasuke said.

"Come on now. It's only been a couple of years, and you forgot all about me?" the masked ninja said. He removed the mask, and undid the ponytail so his blonde hair reached the tip of his upper back. Sasuke and Kakashis eyes grew wide.

"Naruto? Is that really you?" Sasuke asked. Naruto approached and held his fist up. Sasuke smiled and fist-bumped Naruto.

"The one and only fututre hokage. At your service." he bowed, with a ghost of his old grin that vanished right away. "I'll explain everything. We need to get everyone to the village hospital first. Let's go." he said, picking up Lee, who stirred.

"Naruto, is that you?" he asked. Naruto nodded while Sasuke made a clone to go retrieve Tenten while he got Neji and Kakashi carried Gai. "I must have hit my head harder than i thought on that lotus." Lee said, earning a light laugh out of Naruto.

**Hospital**

Sakura was about to turn in when her radio crackled again. "This is leaf village hospital." she said, reciting the speech yet again.

"Sakura, it's Sasuke, open the doors for us, we've got 3 wounded here." Sasuke said. Sakura opened the door quickly and frowned when she saw Neji, Tenten and Gai. She stopped Kakashi before he went too far. "Put then in room 204 and 205 okay?" she said.

"Got it. Listen, make sure our new arrival knows where we are." he said, with a resemblance of a smile under his mask.

"New arrival?" she asked. She was about to yell back to him, but the door creaked open. She spun on her feet and was face to face with Naruto. He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "N-Naruto?" she said, taking some steps toward him.

"Hey, Sakura. You got really beautiful while i was gone. You-" he tried to say, but Sakura punched him in the stomach, making him taste the apple he had for lunch again. He still smiled and wrapped his arms around her. She punched him again, softer this time, before letting herself hug him back, sinking into his grip. She cried her eyes out into his vest, staining the grey color darker.

"You have some nerve just talking all happy Naruto..." she said, letting a sob shake her chest.

"I'm sorry. I'm back, okay? I'm back." he said as he kept his arms around her, letting himself enjoy this moment before things got serious again. As far as he was concerned, the few happy moments these days needed to be savored while they could-they weren't many left.

**And that is chapter 2. I really enjoy having continued days off. Makes it easier to keep up with my whole update-once a day thing ive always tried to follow. Well, thats all i got for today guys. Expect another chapter tommorow, and leave a review if you enjoyed it guys, as all your feedback means a lot to me, and i do pay attention to all suggestions you may have. But if you cant leave a review, i just appreciate you reading it. **

**Much love,**

**Doomblade**


	3. Chapter 3

**Another sleepless night writing. Oh well, what can you do when the urge to write hits? Hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

Naruto sat in the chari, looking as Sakura checked over Sasuke's injuries. "Well, Sakura, anything serious?" Sasuke asked.

"Thankfully, no. You had some serious muscle strain, but not broken bones, which is good because Im not as good of healing broken bones, especialy spinal ones." she said. Sasuke stood up and smiled at Naruto.

"Hey, without you around, someone had to take on the roll of reckless idiot." he chuckled. Naruto laughed along with him, happy to hear Sasuke would be just fine. However, the grim reality soon reared it's ugly head, causing a serious look to cross his face. "Something wrong, Naruto?" sasuke asked. Naruto leaned out the open window, letting the post-rain mosit air hit his face. He sighed heavily.

"Sasuke, tell me the truth. Who's left?" he asked. Sasuke looked at him, confused at first. A lot of things could be mentioned under that.

"Are we and Gai's team the only ones Tsunade thought was enough to keep this entire village safe?" he said, his words laced with anger. "I mean, did she really think 8 people could stand up to an entire group of , basically terrorists, and it go well?" he said, his voice rasing itself in spite of his intent. Images of burned villages flashed through his mind. Sasuke placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Were the only Jounin squads. We still have the genin teams and two Anbu squads. We still have lines of defense Naruto, and Tsunade did the best with what she had. This war wasn't exactly something you prepared for." he said.

Naruto's face relaxed a little, his anger faded. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. I-I've had to see a lot of stuff over these two years." he said.

"It wasn't all smiles here, Naruto. Just remember that." Sasuke said, folding his arms over his chest. Naruto nodded.

"Anyway, im starved. How about we head to ichirakus?" he asked. Sasuke shook his head sadly. "You don't mean-" Naruto started, but Sasuke nodded, so he didn't have to.

"Teuchi died about 2 months ago. We tried to stop it but, we were caught so off guard." he said. Naruto said nothing. He just clenched his fists to the point the nails had begun to dig into the skin of his palms. "Ayame was kidnapped. I think we should assume the worst."

"I'll kill everyone of those bastards." Naruto growled, picking his blade up, but Sasuke blocked the door.

"What are you going to accomplish? So you kill a few thugs. That won't stop the war Naruto. You don't think i want to make them pay for everything they've done? All the dead people? Forcing our village to the brink of starvation? All the academy students dead?" he said, his eyes widening, realizing he went too far. Naruto wasn't suppposed to be told that right away.

Naruto's eyes grew slightly, but his eyes adopted a sad tone to them, the last glimmers of rage leaving them. "Little kids too?" he asked. Sasuke nodded, not able to meet his best friends eyes. "Sasuke, give me a minute would you?" he said.

"Take all the time you need, Naruto. I'm going out on patrol anyway." he said. He clicked the door shut behind him and turned to leave, coming face to face with Sakura. "Hey, Sakura. How are the others?" he said.

"Neji and Tenten are fine. Lee, well, it's not as bad as that time with Gaara, but he got a concussion from that lotus. Look, you need to rest for a couple of days" She said. Sasuke smirked and moved past her. "You all have limits, Sasuke." she said.

"Well, we can't afford to know them. Not right now." he said, vanishing from view. She heard a mild scratching sound, like a chair being moved. She opened the door and saw Naruto had pulled a chair up to the window and stared out of it.

"Naruto? Are you alright?" she asked. Naruto didn't say anything, so she stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder. When he faced her, she saw his blue eyes sparkling with tears. "Oh Naruto..." she said, pulling up the nearest chair and sitting next to him.

"This is all my fault. All of it." he sobbed. Sakura had noticed something had been bothering Naruto following their moment in the lobby. He just seemed out of it, except when others, particually Sasuke, were around. "Sakura, im so sorry i wasn't here to help. If i had been here when all this mess started..." he trailed off as his shoudlers heaved. Sakura felt her heart get heavy seeing this dispaly. Typical Naruto taking all of this on like it was all his fault.

"Naruto, stop it. You need to stop putting so much on yourself. Your only one man. Even if you had been here, whos to say things here would have been any different. Sasuke doesn't blame you. Kakashi doesn't blame you. I don't blame you." she said. she hugged him tightly around his neck, comforted when his sobs stopped, replaced by silent tears.

"Still. I shouldve been here. I shouldve." he said. Sakura stood up

"Im going to the emergency storage to get the others some food. Come with me." she said.

Naruto didn't need much convincing. They left through the main doors and proceded down one of the roads leading to the more industrialized sector of the village. Along the way Naruto observed the withered bodies of homeless citizens, some of them walking skeletons. How long exactly was this food crisis going before he got back.

"Naruto, let's go. The others are going to need their lunch and the hospital cafeteria is tapped out." she said as they continued down the road. They took a left at the burned out husk that was the Academy building, and Naruto couldn't even look at it. They arrived at the warehouses, two iron buildings. The army kept enough food to last for a good while in both of these. Which is why Naruto was so shocked to see the word 'empty' spray-painted on the one to the right. They entered the one to the left and Naruto was stunned to see how barren the place was.

"This can't be all that's left." he said. All that remained were two cases of rations and four or five barrels of dried fruit in the far left. A far cry from before Naruto had left. When he left, this place was full to the rafters. "Sakura, what the hell happened?" he asked.

"Military took a big chunk, looters got some, and the rest? Well, a whole village forced to live of these buildings while the Kanemotos place got up and running? This stuff didn't take long to deplete." she said, grabbing enough rations and packs of fruit for everyone and motioned for Naruto to cloase the heavy iron door. "Come on, let's get back." she said.

Along the way, Naruto noticed more people watching them. Several children in rags stared hungirly at the rations. Naruto took a pack of dried fruit and tossed it, causing the group to pounce on it like wild beasts. "We have to do something, Sakura." he said.

"Were going to try Naruto. Were going to try." she said as they approached the hospital.

**Hill overlooking village**

As it would turn out, in Narutos haste to help Sasuke, he didn't finish off the leader that had been finishing off Kakashi. That same man now stood looking down on the village, his rage bubbling over. He turned to his team. "These people killed your brothers, took me out when my back was turned and now believe they can just go along with their lives. You are my 5 best warriors. Were going to burn whats left of this place to ash!" he growled. The five warriors cheered wildly and they ran down the hill. When they reached the wall, they were over it in a single bound. With a wave of his hand, the leader spread them into different directions.

The explosives expert, Masaki, opened his robes and dropped several paper bomb kunai on the buildings where what remained of the civilains resided. They exploded, ripping through the roofs of some of the building. Masaki laughed as they screamed. He leapt into the street and began to throw smaller bombs into homes, laughing at the smell of burining flesh. "Civilians are occupied." he said into the radio. He moved on to the next block, preparing more explosive tags. He was like a kid in a candy store right now.

**Hospital**

"What the hell is all the noise?" Sasuke said, looking out the window. "Looks like that's coming from the civilian sector. Sakura, can you get ahold of Shizune?" he asked. Sakura put down the radio and shook her head. "Damn it. Let's go Naruto." he said.

"Right behind you." he said. The two of them jumped out the window towards the explosions. Sakura went into the next room and grabbed the radio that was always lept on the desk. She tried to reach Shizune, but she didn't answer her. Nothing but static, meaning something happened over at the dispatch center. Something didn't feel right about this.

"Sakura, we have a problem!" doctor Hiashi shouted from down th hall. Sakura spun and ran as fast as she could. When she arrived, she saw what he meant. In the front of the hospital, one of the members of the team was looking around. Sakura hid from his view.

"How did Sasuke and Naruto not notice him?" Hiashi whispered. Sakura wondered that herself. Something must have been different.

"My only guess is he's the teams sensory ninja. He probably is adept at hiding his chakra from other people." sshe said. It was the only theory that made sense. "Maybe he'll see how bad the outside looks and assume no one is here." she hoped.

Agonizing moments went by before anything happened. As the ninja was about to leave, the radio crackled on the desk. "Sakura, it's Shizune. Can you guys hear me?" she said. The sensor ninja's sensitive ears perked up and his hands flew.

"Wind style-sonicboom jutsu!" he said, and Sakura was barely able to force herself into cover along with Hiashi before the wind erupted, tearing apart the weakened structure of the walls, leaving a gaping hole. "I know your in there. Might as well come out." he said.

Sakura sighed heavily, but was grateful when Kakashi entered the room, the noise drawing him. "Sakura, are you okay?" he said, helping her to her feet. She nodded, and pointed to the ninja. "Stay here. The others may need you to protect them. I'll handle this." he said.

"But Kakashi sensei-" she tried to say, but Kakashi had already jumped down and met the sensor ninjas gaze.

"Kakashi the copy ninja. I must admit, if our leader, Kizo, didn't want your head on a plate, this would be an honor for me." he said.

"Really? Well, im sure your leader isn't too smart, sending one man to take on all of us." Kakashi said. At that, the sensor ninja smiled. "Well...whatever your name is, i don't see what was so funny about this situation." he said.

"Firstly, my name is Janyu. Second, the fact you think i came alone is extremly amusing." he said, snapping his finger. Kakashi realized too late what his indication was.

"Sakura, get out of here!" he called out. Sakura didn't understand until after the man had grabbed her. He was extremely strong, to the point of where she knew he was only holding her with a fraction of his power, and her ribs still ached like a lead weight was on her. "Let her go." Kakashi said menacingly, his sharingan glowing. Janyu laughed and lunged at Kakashi, ignoring his warning.

"While Janyu is having his fun..." the man said, pulling a knife from his pocket. "Why don't i have a little bit of it myself ?" he said. Sakura struggled with everything she had, but even her advanced strength paled in comparison. He placed the knife directly under her chin. "Don't worry. I'll try to make it as quick as i can, alright?" he said. He drew back, and Sakura knew with his strength, it would probably kill her instantly just by sheer force.

"Drop her." came a cold voice. The big ninja turned, allowing Sakura to see who had spoke up. Lee stood there, bandages wrapped around his face and shoulder. "You heard me. I said drop her and fight a man." he said. The ninja did so.

"You think your a match for me, twig boy? You look like someone who forgot to trim his eyebrows for most of their life." he laughed.

"Ohhh. First time ive heard that one. Just for that, im going to take my time beating you to a bloody pulp." Lee said, closing his eyes and Sakura felt his chakra spike, so she knew what he was about to use-the inner gates.

**With Sasuke and Naruto**

"I don't like this. Doesn't it strike you as odd the noise just stopped whenever we got too close?" Sasuke said.

"Yeah. I find it hard to believe these guys just ran off." Naruto said. They were entering the destroyed areas of the blast zones. The charred rubble of some smaller buildings filled the air with that musty, charcoal smell. "This place is a wreck. Just like those others."

"Naruto, you hear that?" Sasuke said. Naruto listend cloesly, pouring chakra to his ears. "Is that, ticking?" Sasuke said. Both of their expressions changed to fear and they jumoed just as the bomb went off. They landed on the rooftop directly above it. "That wasn't a leftover. All these explosions were instant, not on a timer." Sasuke said. Before they could blink however, they were surrounded by not only the leader, Kizo, but the remainder of the group.

"Now, here i thought no one would be stupid enough to fall for this ambush. Surely you didn't think i would forget what you pulled in the forest? Your dead, the both of you." Kizo said. Naruto smirked.

"Kinda reminds you of the whole Haku mess, doesn't it?" he said.

Sasuke smiled at the memory. "Yeah it does. Surrounded on all sides, no backup. The difference is-" he said, powering up his chidori "-were not some kids who don't know how to fight." he said.

Naruto charged his rasengan in his left hand. "Yeah. Now, their messing with two pissed of Jounin." he said as they jumped toward them, ready to fight.

**And that is it. I planned on uploading two today, but since my overactive brain kept me up all night, im gonna try to catch some sleep. So, leave a review if you like it guys, follow the stroy, whatever you guys can do. Means a lot to me. If i wake up before the next ice age, i'll post another chapter hopefully. Thank you for reading everyone.**

**Much love, **

**Doomblade**

.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you all for the support on this story so far. The reviews, and adding it to your alert list, whatever you guys can do, it makes me feel good seeing any kind of notification in my inbox. As promised here's your update for today.**

Lee's head hit the far wall, re-opening the cut on the back of his head. "This could've gone better." he said. He staggered to his feet, wiping the dust out of his eyes. "I didn't want to use more than 2 of the gates. Clearly, i need to." he said. The big ninja laughed at him.

"You really thought a back-water ninja from a 3rd rate village could stand up to me? The mighty Tasaki?" he laughed. Lee let out a small laugh, making tasaki look at him, irritated. "What's so funny mister bowl cut?" he said.

"You think...im done? Try this on for size!" he said, focusing all his chakra into his body again. Tasaki raised an eyebrow, not too worried. He did this once, and was not match for him. The confidence vanished when Lee's skin began to turn dark red and his veins began to pop. _"The third gate. Gate of Life-open!"_ Lee screamed into his head. He felt the surge of chakra as the gate opened fully.

"Lee,no!" Sakura yelled. He was fighting injured as it was. He couldn't afford to be doing this to himself. Lee smiled at her through the pain, seemingly unafraid of the possible results.

"Do not worry, Sakura. I won't need the other two gates. This will be plenty!" he said, kicking Tasaki in the stomach, forcing the man back slightly. "Try this move." Lee said, his feeling of victory returning when he realize dhe could move him now. In the next instant, Lee flash-stepped under Tasaki and kicked him so hard under the chin, he sailed through the roof.

"How did he-" Taskai said, but Lee appeared mid-air and puched him, sending him flying, then did the same, over and over until Tasaki was boucning around like a pinball. Sakura was having flashbacks to Lee's fight with Gaara. _"This isn't good. I have to use the mark!"_

"It is over now! Lee said, wrapping the tape around Tasaki's belt, and pulled him up to him. "Hidden lotus!" Lee cried, driving his fist into Tasakis chest, sending him flying. Lee's eyes widened. "Sakura, move out of the way!" he shouted. Sakura had been warned too late. Tasaki was falling too fast for her to move in time. Lee watched in horror as Tasaki's body collided with her. "Sakura!"

Kakashi looked toward the building when the impact happened, his eyes went huge. " Sakura, no!" he said. Before he could react, Janyu was back in his face. Their kunai knives clashed, eyes narrrowed at one another. "You are really starting to annoy me." he said.

"Oh, well. I guess i'll end it for you then." Janyu said as they leared away from him. "Wind style:razor wind jutsu!"

The gust of wind that slammed into Kakashi immediately began to tear and slice his skin and clothing, and he felt the blood running down his arms and face. "Damn it..." he said, jumping to the side. "fire style:fireball jutsu!" pulling the mask down momentarily to fire it.

Janyu was able to step out of the way and throw three shuriken which Kakashi deflected with his kunai. They stared each other down.

"You tired yet?" Janyu asked, Kakashi shrugged at him.

"No. Are you?" he said. Janyu laughed and they flew toward each other again.

Lee worked frantically, searching the room for Sakura and Tasaki. His heart felt heavy, knowing that if she was hurt, it would be all on him. The impact of Tasaki's massive frame had collapsed the left wall, so Lee moved the pieces as best he could. Since he had not opened the fourth gate, his muscles had not begun to tear, but even still, the hidden lotus took a lot out of him. "Sakura? Can you hear me?" he called. He listened carefully, and to his relief, heard her groan from under a smaller piece of rubble. He threw it to the side.

"Lee, the next time, you want to make a big finish, kindly make sure im out of the way first." she chuckled as he helped her to her feet. Lee laughed nervously as she dusted herself off. She turned to the still form of Tasaki. "At least it's over. We should-"

Sakuras next words were halted by Tasaki standing up and grabbing her by the face, holding her up over his head. "Sakura!" Lee cried, trying to perform a kick, but he was easily swiped to the side. Taking a look into his face, Lee felt a chill run through him.

"Surely you didn't believe ALL of us were simple people? Many of us have shinobi backgrounds. Myself? I am from the sound." he said, as bright orange markings spread along his arms and face. They settled, and then turned pitch black. "This just got worse for you."

"Y-You have one of those marks?" Lee said, standing up shakily. He remembered the first time he saw it-the chunin exam finals when Sasuke's had gone crazy during the first fight. Tasaki laughed at the stunned look on Lee's face.

Tasaki threw Sakura into the hallway, the door having been completely unhinged due to the impact."Now then...let's finish this shall we?" he said.

**Sasuke and Naruto**

Naruto his sword from the motionless body of thelast of Kizo's goons, satisfied that the fight had gone better than he thought it would. He turned to talk to Sasuke, but stopped when he heard someone clapping. Kizo looked down on them.

"Bravo, bravo. You took out 2 people who had no preivous shinobi background, and a bomb-happy clown who eventually wouldve killed himself anyway with the way he acted. Now...you deal with me." he said, removing his cloak. Earth style-mud bomb jutsu" he said. Sasuke and Naruto watched as the ground beneath them shoot into the air and headed toward them, but they got out of the way.

"You'll have to do better than that." Naruto said. Kizo smirked and vanished. "What in the world?"

"Is THIS better?" Kizo said, kicking Naruto in the ribs, sending him into a destroyed building.

"Naruto! That's it, i've had enough of you." Sasuke said, making his hand signs. "Fire style:phoenix flower jutsu" the fire hit Kizo and covered him in it's fumes. "Got him. He wasn't so tough." Sasuke said.

"Is that so?" said Kizo from behind him. Sasuke couldn't react before he felt Kizos foot hit his back sending him flying to the ground. Sasuke quickly caught himself standing up, just in time to deflect the kunai Kizo had thrown at him. "I told you not to underestimate me." he said. Sasuke saw movement to the right of him

"Ah, shut up!" Naruto said, kicking a piece of rock off of him. He had a long cut running down his cheeks, but it was already patching itself up. "Sasuke, we need to watch it. I think this guy absorbs chakra when he hits you." he said.

"You sure about that?" he said. Naruto nodded, and Sasuke muttered a curse under his breath. "Just what we needed." he said.

"I'm impressed, Naruto. When i fought Kakashi, he didn't figure that out until i had him almost drained. How did you know so quickly?" Kizo said. Naruto pointed to his stomach.

"Let's just say, i have a little inside help. That's all you need to know. Now then, i think we were fighting. Shadow clone jutsu!" five clones of Naruto surrounded Kizo and kicked him up, and the real Naruto was above him "Uzamaki barrage!" he kicked him in the head, sending him down. "Got him!" Naruto said.

"Reall,y now, you can't even see through a substitution?" Kizo said, appearing on the roof behind them.

"This guy's speed is unreal. It's like before we even finish the attack, he's already avoided it." Sasuke said. Naruto took out a kunai.

"Yeah? Well he won't avoid this!" Naruto said throwing the knife, and weaving some hand signs as soon as he did. "Ninja art: kunai storm jutsu!" he said, and Sasuke watched, amazed as the one knife turned into 100, moving stragiht for Kizo. Using his sharingan, he saw Kizo move out of the way, heading to Naruto's left, and Naruto not even noticing it.

"Naruto, to your left!" he said. Naruto put his hands up just in time to block the punch Kizo had meant to throw. "I knew it. Your quick, but you can't hide from my eyes." Sasuke said. Kizo let his cocky smile leave his lips for the first time since the attack started.

"An Uchiha eh? Clearly, those eyes of yours are going to be a problem. He closed his eyes, made a hand seal, and took a deep breath. "It's been a while since i've been forced to use this. Consider yourselves VERY unfortunate." he said.

"Sasuke, what the hell is this guy going on about?" Naruto said.

"Naruto you remember that time Mizuki turned into a tiger-person when he messed with one of Orochimarus potions?" he said. Naruto nodded. "Something tell's me this guy is about to give us something similar." he said, his eyes focusing on Kizo's chakra.

"Well precieved, Sasuke. Indeed, following the fall of Orochimaru, the akatsuki sold his recipes and experiments to whoever could afford them. I happened to pick up a scroll taken fron the Inuzuka clan long ago. "Ninja art of beast mastery: Wolf spirit jutsu!"

"Oh, i got a bad feeling about this." Naruto said, as Kizo's body began to change to be more animalistic. His skin began to grow dark black hairs, his teeth got longer and razor sharp, like needles, and his hair grew down to the middle of his back.

"You know what's funny about this situation?" Kizo said, his eyes remained closed, but his voice had gotten deeper, more menacing. "Because one your villages clans couldn't keep their things safe, your are both about to die!" he laughed, opening his eyes, and Naruto felt his hear skip when he saw them-bright yellow eyes with red slit pupils.

"Naruto, snap out of it! Now, more than ever, you need to keep your head!" Sasuke said. Naruto turned to him, but when he took his eyes off Kizo, he moved too quick for even Sasuke to tell. Sasuke watched in horror as Kizo buried it's claws into Narutos chest, and dragged down, drawing a squirt of blood, telling Sasuke several vessels were hit. Naruto fell to his knees and then face-first, staining the ground dark red. "Naruto, no!" Sasuke said, feeling his rage skyrocket. "Fire style: Dragons Breath jutsu!" he yelled.

Kizo merely smiled a toothy grin as the flames hit him, and when it cleared he raised his blood-stained claws. "Your next." he said, taking a step. But he stopped when he heard a swriling sound around Narutos body. Red chakra gathered around Naruto, lifting him up. "How is this possible?" Kizo said. The aura took the shape of a fox with 3 tails.

Narutos bright red eyes shot open and he grinned evily. "Now whos dead?" he asked in his warped voice. Sasuke knew this would not end very well. He knew Naruto could get like this, but never had he seen the aura take shape, nor with tails.

"This can't end well." Sasuke said as the air surrounding the battle became charged with electricity, and dark energies.

**Now, the battles begin to take shape. To adress a particually nasty message i recieved very quickly-i realize my writing is not very good, thats why i always thank everyone who adds this to their alerts, reviews, etc. Read my profile. I do this because i love anime and i love writing fanfiction. If you dislike it, tell me what can improve it, dont bash me personally. Thats is all.**

**With that out of the way, i will conclude like always-leave a review, follow the story, whatever you guys can do, if you enjoyed it. Every bit helps. **

**Much love, **

**Doomblade**


	5. Chapter 5

**And we are back. I had planned to upload this sooner, but what can you do? Please enjoy this guys.**

"I'll give you this much kid. You know how to take a beating and keep coming back for more." Tasaki said, standing over Lee. Lee's face was swollen from punches to his face. His green jumpsuit was ripped on one shoulder, exposing it.

"That is the way of the leaf. Unlike you scum from the sound, we believe in something other than senseless destruction." he said.

Tasaki kicked him in the ribs, bringing a metalic taste into his mouth. "Oh, we believe in something. We believe you have to follow the money. We never supported Orochimarus goals, well, some of us did, but mostly, we needed the moeny" Tasaki said, picking Lee up.

"Yeah? And does your so called leader pay you good now?" Lee said breathing heavily.

"It's not great, but the fact i get to pummel brats like you more than makes up the difference." Tasaki said, punching Lee again and again.

Sakura finally came to, the back of her head screaming. She sat up and felt the back of her head, and when she pulled it back she saw blood, meaning her head had been cut open. She couldn't worry about that now though. She saw the situation Lee was in and stood up to help him, before she stopped to think. She tried to hit him once, and her strength was nothing. She had to get help. "Neji and Gai."

Lee smiled as he saw Sakura head down the hall to, he assumed, get help. So, he just had to hang on for a little longer. In one fluid motion, Lee took a kunai from his pouch and stabbed the hand Tasaki held him with. The man recolied, blood running down his hand.

"Your a bigger pest than your worth, you know that? I don't have long before this curse begins to damage me. So, i'll wrap up here and help Janyu with Kakashi." he said. Lee raised his fists, his breath coming in short bursts.

**One floor below**

Sakura was almost to Neji and Gai's room when the door was thrown open. Neji stepped out, his hand raised, anticipating the enemy. He lowered his defenses when he saw Sakura. "Sakura, what the hell is happening here? he said.

"I don't have time to explain Neji. Both of you need to come with me-Lee needs help!" she said breathlessly, having run down the stairs.

"Does this have anything to do with all the noise coming from upstairs?" Gai said pointing up. Sakura nodded. "Very well, Sakura, lead the way." he said. Neji placed his hand in front of him, stopping him.

"Sensei, you need to wake Tenten up okay? Sakura and I can handle it until you get there." he said.

"Alright Neji. I won't be too long okay?" Gai said, opening the other room and heading inside.

Sakura and Neji opened the door to the staircase and hurried up it. "Why did you tell Gai to stay back there? Tenten would have been fine while we handled this." she said. Neji opened the door that led to the floor Lee was on and looked around carefully.

"I assumed that if Lee needed help, he is fighting an enemy that is almost impervious to Lee's form of fighting. If that is the case, Gai sensei and Tenten probably wouldn't be much good." he said, opening the door and stepping into the hall.

"Yeah, but-" Sakura stopped when a strangled scream ripped through the hall, chilling her spine.

"You stupid piece of crap!" Tasaki said, holding Hiashi by the throat. Hiashi had grabbed a needle off a table and stabbed Tasaki in the neck, in an attempt to help Lee. Hiashi was a hospital medic-he had only been in battle a few time, and nothing too extreme. Tasaki raised his forearm and smashed HIashi aside, feeling the man's jaw crack in two with his touch. "That'll teach you." he said. He went to turn back to Lee, but coughed up a little blood, feeling it on the corner of his mouth. "Damn it. I'm running out of time." he said.

"Leaf hurricane!" Tasaki turned around and Lee's foot buried into his face. However he smirked when he realized all the power was gone. He grabbed the leg and dangled him upside down. "How? How are you doing this?" Lee said in frustration.

"It's not all me. If not for this curse, i would not be this strong. The curse mark increases your natural power along with the advanced form Im currently in. But enough fun." he said, picking up the kunai Lee had stabbed him with earlier. The neck wound from Hiashi wasn't deep, and thankfully, missed the vein, so it could wait. He threw him in the air and caught him by the neck. "Die!" he yelled, reaching back and angling it so it would rip through Lee's jugular vein and hopefully end him quickly.

"Damn. My body has gone completely numb." Lee said, trying to wrench himself free, failing to against Takashi's grip.

"Hey, you, unless you want to stop breathing, you'll put my teamate down." Neji said from the doorway. Tasaki turned around amd laughed. "Was i not clear? Put. Him. Down." Neji said. Tasaki stopped smiling, feeling Neji's rage emenate from him.

"Fine. He's not much of a threat anymore anyhow." he said._ "It figure's another brat shows up. The curse mark is starting to eat into my chakra reserve now. I need a backup plan." _ his mind began to race, he saw only one option-take them all out in one hit. _"I didn't want to use this so early in our plan, but im out of time." _"Ninja art-Lightning strike jutsu!" in that instant, the sky directly above the hospital darkened considerably, a ball of purple light formed in the center of it. Kakashi and Janyu stopped fighting for a moment.

"What the hell is going on up there?" Kakashi said. Janyu lowered his kunai knife, sighing heavily, drawing Kakashi's eye.

"It would appear Tasaki has allowed his temper to overwhelm his common sense once again. Still, i did not expect him to break out this jutsu. He can rarely control it." he said. He pocketed the knife and walked in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going, Janyu?" Kakashi said. Janyu stopped and turned his head to meet Kakashi's eyes.

"I did not agree to die for that oaf. If he chooses to blow himself, up, that is his business. Im going to see if our leader requires my help. And to be frank, Kizo was talking about killing Tasaki anyway. Farewell, Kakashi, and thank you for the sparring match." he said, vanishing.

Neji saw it through his byakugan-the mass of chakra that was forming in the center of the clouds was enough to level half the building. "Sakura, get Lee and Hiashi behind me now!" he said, weaving a few hand signs. Sakura looked at him like he was crazy.

"Neji, we need to get out of here what are you-" Neji stopped her with his determined gaze.

"We'll be fine. Just get Lee and Hiashi directly behind me, or i won't be able to protect them." he said. Sakura did as he said.

"Time to die kids!" Tasaki shouted. The energy twisted into the shape of a bolt of lightning, and swinging his fist down, Tasaki commanded it to fire. With a deafning crack of thunder, it did. Kakashi stood, unable to move in time to do anything. In the next moment, the light struck the building, bathing the area in dark purple light, and then the shockwave hit. It blew Kakashi clean off his feet and made him slide, back-first, until he managed to use his chakra to dig into the ground.

**With Sasuke and Naruto**

Sasuke turned in the direction of the sound when it carried over tho where they were. Naruto and Kizo did for a second, but didn't stare long. "What is going on over there?" Sasuke said. Naruto scoffed, making Sasuke turn back around.

"Look who was telling who to focus Sasuke. I'm sure Kizo over her knows all about it, right?" he asked. Kizo shrugged.

"If i had to guess, one of my comrades got carried away. Come on, Naruto. All of that bravado about killing me, and you haven't moved an inch. Getting cold feet?" he laughed. Naruto let out a low growl and shifted his feet. Kizo did the same. "Bring it on." Kizo said.

Both men took off, and Sasuke found he coukd barely follow the fighting, even with his sharingan. He saw Naruto, his eyes wild, throw a kick that Kizo easily ducked. Kizo punched Naruto in the throat, his hand gliding through Narutos aura like nothing. "Naruto!"

Naruto slid on his stomach for only a moment before he stood up quickly holding his neck. he coughed, the breath having been knocked clean out of his throat.

"Naruto are you alright?" Sasuke said, drawing his knife. "Let me help you." he said. Naruto held a hand up.

"Sasuke, let me handle him. You still haven't completely gotten your chakra back. Plus.." he said, i've been meaning to try out this new move." he said.

**"Are you sure you should be trying this?" ** the voice of the fox said, dragging Naruto into his mind, where the fox slept.

"Now's really not a good time, you know." the fox chuckled at that.

**"Since when did that ever matter to me? I don't think you should try to clone yourself when your in this state. We don't know what side effects there could be." **it said. Naruto sighed.

"Well, we'll never know until you let me try it. I thought we had a deal-i learn to fend for myself, and you don't try to control what i do when i do use your power. This is the first time i've called on you since-" he stopped, as if the memory was too much.

**"Since IT happened. I know, and that's the reason i made the offer in the first place. Im just saying, be careful. Combining your techniques with my chakra could make you ten times more powerful, or speed up the destruction of your body."**

"I know. Just trust me, please." Naruto said. The fox chuckled softly.

**"You know, im beginning to see what she see's in you." **it said, sending Naruto back out before he could ask what that meant.

"Are you going to stand there all day? " Kizo said. Naruto smiled at that. If only he knew.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Eat this-Ninja art:Clone jutsu!" Kizo foud himself surrounded by 4 copies of Naruto, all of them in the three tailed state. "Let's see if you can beat all of us, Kizo." he said.

"Whoa. I had no idea Naruto had come so far. Looks like this might be over sooner than i had believed." Sasuke said.

"You know, it never ceases to amaze me. You leaf shinobi are all the same. Thinking you have ahold of a situation without waiting for your enemy to respond in kind." Kizo said, moving quickly, he destroyed two of the clones. "Now then, any questions?"

"Yeah, do you ever shut up?" Naruto said. Again, the 3 Naruto's and Kizo took off, Sasuke watching on.

**Hospital**

When Sakura opened her eyes she saw that the roof was completely missing, walls collapsed all around them, but thankfully, all of the debris had avoided them. "How in the world..." she said. She looked up and saw Neji lower his hands.

"I told you we would be fine. I don't think that man will be a threat any longer." he said. Sakura looked over his shoulder and saw that Tasaki had fallen, presumed to be out of chakra. He was face-first, and was not moving at all.

"Neji, what did you do?" she asked. Neji smirked, helping Sakura move check on Lee.

"You remember my rotation correct? Well, more or less, I've develpoed a way to create a shield using the same principle. It blocks whatever hits it, and spins it outward, protecting us. However, I can only make it a certain size in the front of me. I haven't quite gotten the hang of keeping it all around me yet." he said.

"Neji? Are you all alright in there?" Gai said from the partially blocked hallway. Neji stood up and moved a piece of roof out of the way.

"Were fine Gai sensei. Lee isn't doing to good though." he called back. Sakura began to heal Lee's immediate injuries. The room, what was left of it anyway, shook when Gai kicked his way through the hall and entered the room, Tenten right behind him.

"How is he Sakura?" Tenten asked, leaning down. Sakura shook her head.

"Pushed himself too far as usual. Nothing to life-threatning though. I think he's coming too." she said. Lee opened his eyes slowly.

"Ugh. Tenten? When did you and Gai sensei get here?" he asked. Tenten sighed in relief, sitting down next to him.

"We just got here Lee. How are you feeling?" she asked. Lee stood up, and immediately, his knees buckled and he was down again.

"Heh. Not doing so great at this moment. Is everyone okay?" he asked. Sakura shushed him while she continued to work on him. "Gai, sensei, is our enemy dead?" he asked. Gai looked up from examining Tasaki's motionless form.

"No, Lee. It appears to that he is just suffering from chakra exaustion. Something you know all about my young pupil." he joked. Everyone shared a little laugh about it, even Neji cracked a smile. "Still, clearly this man was no joke." Gai said.

"Yeah. If it wasn't for Neji, Lee, Hiashi and I would all be dead right now." Sakura said.

"Well then, im grateful Neji was able to do that. We've suffered so much death as it is, Gai said.

"Yeah, really Neji. Good thing you perfected that new move right?" Tenten said.

Lee lowered his gaze to the floor. _"Big surprize. Once again, Neji has to come in to save the reckless fool from danger, and everyone starts gushing over him. Even Tenten..." _his thoughts glum and self-loathing, as everyone discussed their next move.

**Sasuke and Naruto**

Kizo laughed as Naruto struggled to stand up from the most recent attack. "So, you and your clones couldn't stop me. Now, you may want to re-think your decision to not let your Uchiha friend help you." he said.

"Sasuke...ignore him. I've got this." Naruto said when he saw Sasuke make a hand sign. He took a step and nearly fell flat on his face. Even with the nine tails aura, his energy was draining from the effort it took to mantain it.

"Tell you what, Naruto. How about, while you and him work out who will fight me, i go to the hospital and greet your friends? I think by then, you will all have a decison." he said. Naruto threw a knife at him, which he caught, but Naruto was in his face right away. Grabbing Kizo by the collar, Naruto kicked him in the chest and then punched him with everything he had.

"Lightning style-four pronged prison!" Naruto raised one hand toward Kizo and one to the sky. Four lines of blue light shot down, capturing Kizo's limbs in them. Kizo found himself floating, suspended by both legs and arms. Naruto jumped in the air, his hand glowed with chakra. "Tornado Rasengan!" Naruto shoved the Rasengan into Kizo, feeling it glide through Kizo's flesh, driving him into the dirt.

"He got him!" Sasuke said. Naruto's nine tails aura disappeared from all around him and he smiled at Sasuke.

"I told him he couldn't win. And you doubted that i could-"

"Was that supposed to impress me?" Kizo said. Naruto didn't have time to respond as Kizo drove his clawed hands through Narutos chest, re-opening the wound he had made earlier. Sasuke, having seen enough, charged toward Kizo, chidori armed.

"Im going to end this!" Sasuke said. He stabbed wildly, and paid for it. Kizo had moved out of the way, grabbed Narutos katana and drove it through Sasuke's shoulder. His animal eyes gleamed with malice now, as Naruto had coated the blade with a paralyzing formula. "Damn it. Can't...move." he said. Kizo stood over both of the fallen ninja and laughed.

"This is not fun anymore. I'll just kill the both of you." he said, Rasing the blade high. Sasuke tried to move, but knew he couldn't.

"Lord Kizo!" a voice called from the right. Kizo turned to see Janyu running toward him. "We need to retreat right away!"

"Why? Im just starting to have fun with this!" he said. Janyu took the sword from him and threw it down to Naruto's side.

"Mizawa reports that a huge contingent of leaf reinforcements are heading here through the forest of death. We need to move out now, because you and i are all that remain here." he said. Kizo stopped and thought it over.

_"One or two shinobi, no problem. But my chakra is already in the red, and i can't matain this form for much longer."_ he thought. "Very well. Go on ahead, i'll be right behind you." he said.

"By your order, lord Kizo." Janyu said disappearing

Kizo leaned down and stared into Sasuke's eyes. "since neither of you will be moving for a bit, deliver this message to whoever's in charge here while Tsunades gone. We will burn this village to the ground, wether you bring out some help or not. The legendary Sasuke and Naruto could not stop me, so who can? Farewell." he said, kicking Sasuke in the face, making him black out.

**Okay, so as i type this closer, it is 2:34 in the morning. I have put off not uploading long enough, because writers block sucks big time. Anyways, i would really appreciate any kind of supoort ya'll can give me-story alerts, reviews, whatever you guys can do to help me out. **

**Much love,**

**Doomblade**


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